antibody test

[football22872]

I had a culture done on a genital sore that came back positive for genital herpes six months ago. Since then, I have had no discomfort or sores genitally but experience SEVERE outbreaks on my lips and inside my mouth every six weeks like clock work that forces me to miss school. I took a blood antibody test at the end of August and I just got the results. I came back negative for both herpes type 1 and type 2 antibodies. Is it possible that the doctor who cultured me made a mistake? I have read that sometimes antibody levels are so low that they show up negative but I was in the middle of one of these outbreaks. HELP!

[Needsomeclarity323]

It usually takes up to 3-4 months for the antibodies to show but sometimes( rarely) it can take longer( up to 6 months+). And then there's always the possibility that the test missed the infection all together, which happens 10% of the time. HSV-1 is harder to detect that HSV-2. There's also a small percentage of people who will never develop antibodies. How do you know that the outbreaks on your mouth are actually due to hsv-1? Have they ever been cultured? It could be something else. As far as the genital herpes goes, what type was it? If it is HSV-1 which also causes cold sores, then it is far less likely that you will ever get another outbreak down there. The next time you get another outbreak on your mouth, get to your doc and have it cultured to know for sure that it is hsv-1.

[gracefromHHP]

If you had a culture done that said herpes then you have herpes genitally.  Did they say at that time if it was hsv1 or hsv2?

I'd get your oral symptoms cultured for herpes within 24-48 hours of the next time they appear.  if they come back as hsv+ too then suppressive therapy would be a good idea to try to reduce the number of reoccurences you are having as well as the severity.

grace